A new Nomi Health Charitable Foundation program will develop a medical certificate program for Hawaiian students and young professionals pursuing healthcare careers.
Nomi Health’s Frontline Futures Program will partner with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) to develop the program. Nomi Health will invest $50,000 to create a program that offers tuition reimbursement, mentoring by employed and retired industry professionals, and wraparound services like transportation and housing stipends to Hawaiians who are studying or beginning their careers in frontline healthcare roles.
The initiative is part of Nomi Health’s goal to remove barriers to care, and address health disparities disproportionately impacting underserved communities.
“This partnership intends to address barriers to success, allowing participants to be fully supported, financially and beyond, as they embark on their healthcare careers in the face of a major shortage of healthcare workers, including nurses, nurse practitioners, home health aides, certified nursing assistants, and more,” Nomi Health Foundation Executive Director Rebecca Langle said in a statement.
Nomi Health has worked on several healthcare-related initiatives in Hawaii over the past few years. It provided more than 30,000 weekly COVID-19 tests to students and faculty at Brigham Young University-Hawaii as part of the state’s pandemic response in December 2020. Since then, the company has conducted COVID-19 testing at various sites on Oahu and the Big Island.
Nomi Health also hosted four community health fairs at Waikele Premium Outlets and Windward Mall, offering free tests for diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure screenings for community members in April 2022.
“We are excited to partner with Nomi Health to expand our Hawaiian Trades Academy’s portfolio of career development programs,” CNHA CEO Kuhio Lewis said. “This new program will help smooth the entry of Native Hawaiians and others into the healthcare field, a rapidly growing industry that offers careers with livable wages. With Hawaii’s high cost of living, jobs in healthcare will not only help keep Native Hawaiians here in the islands, but also enable them to achieve the dream of owning their own home in our (ancestral lands).”